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?Anyone worked in Music Supervision?

Mr. CasualMr. Casual 953 Posts
edited February 2007 in Strut Central
I was thinking about applying for a job in the music supervision dept at a random studio.. anyone have any experience or thoughts?

  Comments

  • GuzzoGuzzo 8,611 Posts
    *Paging Mandrew*
  • yoigotbeatsyoigotbeats 1,667 Posts
    I'm currently moonlighting as music supervisor on a documentary and was MS for Soul In The Hole.

    PM me
  • mandrewmandrew 2,720 Posts


    i do!

    the game is tough.

    lemme dig up a post from weirdrecordsforweirdpeople...

    ok here's most of it...

    one of the only ways to get a start in this field is interning. get a bartending job or something that pays the bills and suck it up. i started interning for lisa brown (she's worked on a bunch of cheesy teenage girly flicks; when i was with her we did 'white girls' 'sky high' 'ice princess' and 'employee of the month'). if you stick with it, you're mildly affable, and you're not retarded, you'll learn the ropes and meet people who will eventually offer you a real gig.
    after my 2-3 months, i emailed all the supervisors who's work i admire. because the field tends to draw cool folks, many of them were willing to meet up or talk on the phone. from this, i had the decision to go intern again at hit the ground running, a small business run by jason alexander, that does 'entourage' and 'csi,' or get a real job at caa. so i strayed away from my goals for two years and spent them instead at the agency. i don't regret it that much, but i don't think it was ultimately the best move career-wise.
    anyway, two years later, i got back on track and since then i've put in time working for thomas golubic ('six feet under' supervisor) and am now working for producer/music supervisor on sopranos. i just started recently but its been great so far, plus i get free music and other benefits.

    the disadvantages to this career are plenty. all of the drawbacks pointed out earlier in the thread are real. there's not much security (unless you get a job as an in-house supervisor type at a studio), there's tons of competition, its a lot of thankless and tedious work, the job can make you hate music at times, you're responsible for your own fukkin' health insurance, ultimately youre just fulfilling your bosses' (the producers and directors') wishes, and i don't think there's longevity in this field - i can't think of anyone over 45 doing it currently - which prolly has something to do with the shitty pay. and i could go on.
    the comment someone made about supervision being a 'job for cool girls that don't suck' is pretty interesting. i've heard a mildly chauvinistic view that supervising is popular with the ladies because they can depend on their hubby's to make the major bank, while they're essentially working for themselves, and so have the ability to take time off to raise the youngins.

    other places to look for work are music publishing and licensing spots -
    like emi or other big publishing houses, or ocean park music, bug music, etc.

    if you are still interested, some resources i'd reccommend are:
    the film-music network online
    the supervision chapter in don passman's 'everything you need to know about the music business'
    and 'the independent guide to music supervision'

    at the end of many days, i find myself questioning why i feel the need to work in this field, how come i can't just be happy selling out making some decent reliable money in real estate or something, & just be normal music-lover. but one of the things that attracts me to this job is a deep inner desire to share good music with people, which i am sure many of you are familiar with.


    good luck

    that was about 3 months ago. i'm really enjoying my job right now. there's a lot more ups and downs to the supervision that i left out. i can go on but i just got home, still haven't eaten or showered, and i got work to do for tomorrow! what else do you wanna know?
  • johmbolayajohmbolaya 4,472 Posts
    This is something I've wanted to do for years. To be able to do a project, be it TV or a movie, and say "I know this guy on Soul Strut who makes some incredible music, let me see if he would be interested in contributing". It's one thing to be an artist and producer, another to be a journalist, but to have a position that makes it possible to get other people's music into a working project, I want to do that. The soundtrack for the new Eddie Murphy film has some incredible music, and I'm sure if Murphy had his way, he would have more funk on there.
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